Library Buildings around the World

oom, meeting rooms, a conference center, a 235-seat multimedia auditorium, a cafe, a bookstore, offices, and more than 1.3 acres of
public space. Pfeiffer Partners’ 10-year effort began with master planning and program confirmation, and included historic
preservation and adaptive reuse and full interior design services, in addition to designing the 350,000 sf addition. (Pfeiffer)
University of British Columbia. Irving K. Barber Learning Center, Vancouver, BC - Canada 2008
240.000 sqf.
The new Irving K. Barber Learning Centre, designed by Pfeiffer Partners with Downs/Archambault & Partners, transforms
the campus' historic main library into a visionary education and research support facility, integrating library services and
collections with classrooms, lecture theatres, learning commons, academic units, and a community concourse. The Heritage
Core, the 36,000-sf central portion of the existing building, constructed in 1925, is retained, while surrounding additions
built in the 1940s and 1960s are demolished. New construction encompasses 200,000 sf surrounding the core. In addition to
providing a unified architectural complex, the major new addition provides a contemporary new façade along the
University's East Mall, a busy pedestrian pathway linking the facility to the student union and other student services. The
Learning Centre houses the first Canadian library installation of an automated retrieval system (ARS), with storage for 1.4
million volumes. Nine-hundred study seats, and 300 computer stations, along with informal social space, a recital hall, and
exhibition gallery, are provided to actively encourage collaborative learning. (Pfeiffer)
University of Otago, Information Services Building and Student Union Expansion, Dunedin - New
Zealand 2001
Completion Date: 2000 (Phase 1); 2001 (Phase 2), Size: 170,000 sqf.
The University of Otago's new Information Services Building (ISB) is a major renovation and addition to its central library,
and includes a new enclosed link to the University Union that creates a 24-hour information marketplace. It is also the
centerpiece of a new student precinct being developed simultaneously in response to Pfeiffer Partners’ master plan. The
ISB holds 400,000 volumes of books and offers convenient training, seminar, and group-study areas; lounge seating; print-
and-copy centers; Internet terminals; wired carrels; and computer stations. The two-story connection between the library
and union contains kiosks with concessions and conference suites, a new campus store, and electronic information systems.
By grouping buildings and landscaped areas into a cohesive plan, a learning environment was created where students can
interact with both electronic information and each other. (Pfeiffer)
Platt Byard Dovell White Architects, New York NY – USA
http://www.pbsw.com
Libraries:
Van Ingen Art Library, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY – USA 2009
Back to the Future: The New Vassar College Art Library
The Vassar College Art Library is a rare example of a complete modernist interior from the pre-World War II period in the United
States. Built in 1937, the interior was designed by John McAndrew (* 1904 New York - + 1978 Venice, Italy) , an architect as well as
educator, who taught architectural history and drafting in the Vassar College Department of Art from 1931 to 1937.
The clarity, openness, and textured warmth of the space is in keeping with the American or what McAndrew termed a "naturalized"
version of the machine aesthetic, which he would go on to promote in his role as Curator of the Department of Architecture at the
Museum of Modern Art between 1937 and 1942. The design also has elements in common with the streamline style of Raymond
Loewy and Norman Bel Geddes. McAndrew's Art Department colleagues referred to this dynamic and forward-looking space as the
expression of a new functionalism in architecture.
As a learning environment it was exactly that, an elegantly-crafted machine in which every surface, volume, and element was shaped
and illuminated for the efficient appropriation of a knowledge of the history of art through group and individual study.
McAndrew's space has now been carefully renovated to recover its original function through the introduction of new visualization
technologies as well as through a restoration of the original interior on designs by another architect/educator, the late Paul Spencer
Byard, and his partner Charles A. Platt (* 30.08.1939-+ 15.07.2008), of the New York-based firm of Platt Byard Dovell White.
(http://artlibrary.vassar.edu)
The Vassar College Art Library is a rare example of a complete early modernist interior from the pre-World War II period in the
United States. Built in 1937, the interior was designed by John McAndrew, an architect as well as educator, who taught
architectural history and drafting in the Vassar College Department of Art from 1931 to 1937.
Of the recent renovation, Professor Adams noted that: "This is a rare example of a historically informed renovation of a modernist
building. The architects have succeeded brilliantly in recuperating the past and adapting it to new functions for the present."
According to Art Librarian Thomas Hill, the clarity, openness, and textured warmth of the space is in keeping with the American or
what McAndrew termed a "naturalized" version of the machine style, which he would go on to promote in his role as Curator of the
Department of Architecture at the Museum of Modern. The design also has elements in common with the streamlined style of
Raymond Loewy and Norman Bel Geddes. McAndrew's Art Department colleagues referred to this dynamic and forward-looking
space as the expression of a new functionalism in architecture.
As a learning environment it was exactly that, an elegantly-crafted machine in which every surface, volume, and element was shaped
and illuminated for the efficient appropriation of a knowledge of the history of art through group and individual study. McAndrew's
space has now been carefully renovated to recover its original function through the introduction of new visualization technologies as
well as through a restoration of the original interior on designs by another architect/educator, the late Paul Spencer Byard, and his
partner Charles A. Platt, of the New York-based firm of Platt, Byard, Dovell, & White.
Nicholas Adams, the Mary Conover Mellon Professor of Art, worked with the architects on the recent renovation and his
involvement, according to John Mihaly, director of Regional Programs, "ensured a close adherence to the fundamental principles
and the integrity of the 1930s design." (http://info.vassar.edu/news/2009-2010/090912-art-library-reopening.html)
Polshek Partnership Architects, LLP, New York – USA
Now Ennead Architects LLP, New York, NY – USA
157